Working on the premise that “the greenest building is the one that’s already built”, a Stuart couple has put action to words with their 50+ year old building. Established in Stuart over 20 years ago, the Stuart School of Music, 1608 So Kanner Hwy, Stuart, Fl. has undergone a transformational facelift, moving into the 21st century as the first "green" music school in Florida, possibly in the U.S. New, updated and soundproofed studios are breathing new life into one of Stuart's longtime businesses. Started in 1993 by owner and director Cindy Kessler, the Stuart School of Music provides eight studios, ten instructors, and over 300 students who are studying piano, voice, guitar, strings, and clarinet. Working with contractor husband John Eriksen of JDL Builders LLC, a custom builder who is also a photovoltaic solar dealer, Cindy's Stuart School of Music is now showcasing a 10K thinfilm photovoltaic solar system that is laminated onto a new standing seam metal roof! Contained within an educational kiosk in the great room, a touchscreen monitor allows students, parents, and visitors to observe not only real-time solar electrical production, but allows them to check daily, weekly, monthly, and lifetime environmental offsets provided by the system. http://www.stuartschoolsolar.com (solar monitoring website). Unlike the traditional external framed panels which mount on rooftop brackets, this thinfilm solar laminate is the thickness of a credit card and is applied to the roofing material with peel-and-stick adhesion. Boasting a Miami-Dade product approval, this thinfilm solar laminate by Uni-Solar carries a 140 mph rating when applied to an acceptable roofing material. Coupled with low-E windows, increased insulation, LED lighting, low flow plumbing fixtures and non-VOC paints, the Stuart School of Music not only continues to promote the music arts, but strives to achieve its environmental goal of "living lightly upon the earth"!

Please view our Channel 5 News interview!

Click for our interactive solar monitoring website which tracks real-time production while also calculating the School’s environmental off-sets!